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CULINARY SCHOOL
HOW TO EXECUTE A TASTING MENU AT HOME
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RESTAURANT GUIDE
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EDITOR’S LETTER
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THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS
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ESSENTIALS How to plate an elevated dish with simple ingredients
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BUTCHER’S CUT Beef tallow
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SEASONAL The best restaurant dishes we ate all year
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L’CHAIM Restaurant wines
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TREND Top 10 restaurant trends
103 PROFILE Harbour Grill 108 TRAVEL Cancun, Mexico 158 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CORK The history of California wine 166 BACK POCKET Pâte à choux 168 RECIPE INDEX 117-158 44-RESTAURANT-GUIDE.indd 117
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170 LAST BITE A new way to make a classic dessert
SOMETHING SWEET
CHURRO DESSERTS
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^ Chicken Marsala
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BUTCHER'S CUT
IT'S TALLOW TIME BY: B -S H
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TALLOW THERE.
BUTCHER'S CUT
EVERYONE HAS HEARD OF SCHMALTZ. For some of you, it’s the only oil you use on Passover. I would like to introduce you to schmaltz’s older brother — beef tallow. While schmaltz has a shelf life of a week or two in the fridge, tallow will keep for over a year on the counter and indefinitely in the fridge or freezer. While traditional beef tallow is made from suet, which is the fat around the kidneys and internal organs, this fat is also known in the Torah as heilev and is strictly forbidden on domesticated animals. Excellent beef tallow can be made from the hard fat from the top of the rib and the end of the rib along with the solid hard fat from brisket. The nature of tallow makes it ideal for use in high heat cooking and baking, giving items a crispy exterior and soft interior.
FAT TO THE FIRE:
HOW TO MAKE TALLOW
MAKING TALLOW IS VERY EASY TO MAKE AT HOME. Finely chop or run your hard fat through
a meat grinder, then add to a large stock pot over medium heat for 3 hours, stirring every 30-40 minutes, until the fat is rendered. You will have pieces of fat, beef and other imperfections that won’t render. After about 3 hours, strain the liquid fat through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a heat-safe container that can be sealed airtight (such as a Mason jar). You can also pour the liquid fat into silicone ice cube trays to make single portion cubes. These cubes, once cooled, can be put into a jar or a Ziploc bag. If storing in a Ziploc bag, I suggest storing it in the fridge so the cubes don't accidentally melt together. Fleishigs
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A DEEP DIVE INT O T HE W O RLD O F TA ST ING MENU S
BY: S H I F R A K L E I N
Dining at the chef’s counter at Bonito, Chef Joshua Kessler’s new restaurant Dining at the chef’s counter at Bonito, Chef Joshua Kessler’sinnew in NYC, was a—culinary NYC,restaurant was a culinary heaven a food heaven — a food enthusiast’s version of a Broadway show, so toenthusiast’s speak. Having a front-row seat to version of a Broadwayview show, the cooking and expediting process of a well-run open kitchen so concept is magical. enjoying to speak. Having After a front-row seat to Bonito’s crispy, spicy glazed wings and fried artichokes, I thanked for the delicious meal. We viewthe thechef cooking and expediting process got to talking and he mentioned that he offers tasting menus to interested customers. of a well-run open kitchen concept is magical. After enjoying Bonito’s crispy, This piqued my interest, as I have done a few tasting menus in the past and was curious what the glazed wings and fried artichokes, experience would be like at Bonito. (It’s also important to note spicy that the chef didn’t know who I was and I thanked the chef fora the delicious his interaction with me was solely based on the fact that I was a customer enjoying quiet dinner.)meal. We got to talking and he mentioned that offers tasting menusone to interested Even though a handful of restaurants do offer tasting menus,heI hadn’t experienced in a while, customers. as it’s not something that’s commonly advertised in kosher restaurants. A tasting menu (otherwise
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known as menu dégustation in French) is a collection of several dishes in small portions served by a restaurant as a single meal. In most cases, everyone involved inThis the piqued tasting my getsinterest, the same Some asfood. I have done restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it’s a special or an option onwas a few tasting menus in the past and the menu. Over the years, I have done tastings at the former Brooklyn, NY restaurant Pardes; ETC curious what the experience would be like Steakhouse in Teaneck, NJ; Tierra Sur in Oxnard, CA; and at Bonito. (It’s also important to note that the chef didn’t know who I was and his interaction with me was solely based on the fact that I was a customer enjoying a quiet dinner.) Even though a handful of restaurants do offer tasting menus, I hadn’t experienced one in a while, as it’s not something that’s commonly advertised in kosher restaurants. A tasting menu (otherwise known as menu dégustation in French) is a collection of several dishes in small portions served by a restaurant as a single meal. In most cases, everyone involved in the tasting gets the same food. Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it’s a special or an option on the menu. Over the years, I have done tastings at the former Brooklyn, NY restaurant Pardes; ETC Steakhouse in Teaneck, NJ; Tierra Sur in Oxnard, CA; and Mike’s Bistro in NYC. While all delicious, I found value in some more than others.
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BONUS: Chef Isaac showed us a fascinating new take on risotto using sunflower seeds. Look out for the recipe in an upcoming Leftovers newsletter, exclusive email content available to all magazine subscribers.
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SEASONAL
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MEMO E BITES WHEN YOU’VE SEEN AND TASTED IT ALL, IT’S SOMETIMES HARD TO BE AMAZED. BUT WE HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT THERE ARE STILL INGENIOUS, UNEXPECTED DISHES. HERE ARE SOME OF THE BEST RESTAURANT DISHES WE’VE EATEN ALL YEAR, ONES WE HAD TO RECREATE FOR THE HOME COOK.
BY: SHIFRA KLEIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY: SCHNEUR MENAKER
I TREND
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BY: ADINA SILBERMAN
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WITHIN THE GLOBAL RESTAURANT MARKET lies the kosher restaurant market, which both feeds off of what is trending in the world and also creates trends in its own right. I spoke with four kosher restaurant experts, Dani Klein (@yeahthatskosher), Elan Kornblum (@greatkosherrestaurants), Gabriel Boxer (@kosherguru) and Michelle Saka (@miamifoodyenta) to hear their thoughts on the top kosher restaurant trends of the last year and what we can expect to see in the year ahead.
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PROFILE
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Old School meets New School
HARBOUR BISTRO and HARBOUR GRILL, two Miami establishments founded by FrenchJewish entrepreneur Gilbert Amsellem, are paving the way for sophisticated charcuterie and boards using ancient French techniques. When Amsellem founded Harbour Grill 15 years ago, he transformed a run-of-the-mill shawarma joint into a refined, elegant steakhouse. In that era, nothing quite like it existed; within years of opening, Amesellem noticed (and then filled) two voids in the kosher restaurant world. Believe it or not, sushi wasn’t often served alongside steak and steak wasn’t typically made using dry-aged meat. BY: SHIFRA KLEIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY: SCHNEUR MENAKER
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TRAVEL
Entering a Decade of
Kosher Travel Revolution KOSHER DINING OPTIONS WITHIN CHAIN HOTELS IS A NEW TREND THAT IS OPENING UP ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES FOR THE KOSHER TRAVELER.
BY: S H I F R A K L E I N
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handbag full of sandwiches, deli meat, cans of tuna and dry cereal is the norm for kosher travelers, who, for decades, have faced the challenge of not having any kosher options at vacation destinations. In the past few decades, the expansion of Chabad houses in exotic destinations, such as Puerto Rico, Cancun and most recently, Turks & Caicos, has eased the burden on kosher travelers with more options than ever for meals, minyanim and, in many cases, mikvah access as well. For the luxury traveler, this past decade has been a good one with kosher concierge services (like Noah Lang @thekosherconcierge) having expanded to provide all kosher needs, but at a hefty price tag. The dream of the average kosher traveler has always been no-hassle travel. The idea of having food at a hotel without needing to leave, shop and cook is a huge novelty and has always been somewhat of a fantasy. This fantasy is slowly but surely coming to fruition, with a handful of hotels seeing the value in providing food options geared towards the kosher consumer. I experienced this firsthand on a recent trip to Cancun, Mexico. Shlomo and I had not traveled together on an official couples trip since before Covid, so when we had a two-night window to travel, we were stumped. Where to go? Our criteria limited us. We needed a short flight (we didn’t want to waste time flying with our already limited time) and we also didn’t want to bring food with us. We were looking for a worry-free, hassle-free, chilled out vacation in a warm climate, but also wanted to expand our horizons beyond the obvious choice of Florida. After much discussion with no firm idea, we turned to the pages of Fleishigs and reached out to one of the advertisers of the magazine, High Class Travel, a travel agency specializing in luxury travel. (It is important to mention that
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TRAVEL
we paid for our vacation in full and nothing we received was sponsored.) Upon sharing our needs, agent Rivkah Tuttle suggested that Nizuc Resort & Spa in Cancun would be the perfect choice for us. Rivkah explained that it was not only stunning, luxurious and quiet, but (best of all) it had a lot of kosher options on premises. We couldn’t fathom the idea! The experience opened up a whole new world of possibilities for kosher travel, where you can really experience an inclusive hotel experience. Beyond Nizuc, there are a handful of hotels that are currently offering on-site dining like never before. This growing trend in the kosher market was the perfect travel content for this restaurant issue — kosher dining options within chain hotels, a new trend that is hopefully continuously growing with endless possibilities. N I Z U C R E SO RT & S PA:
Nizuc is a one-of-a-kind luxury hotel located just 15 minutes from Cancun International Airport. With 274 suites and villas dispersed throughout 27-acres of land, it affords guests a quiet, relaxing vibe that guarantees tranquility. Many rooms have private plunge pools and balconies with stunning views of mangroves and lush tropical gardens. What is most impressive is that even the most “basic” room averages about 800 square feet with a large soaking tub, making it far beyond basic. In fact, nothing at Nizuc is Fleishigs
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Richness. Bottled. -
A WEALTH OF FLAVOR IN EVERY SIP.
DARK CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR — RICH & DEEP WHITE CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR — RICH & CREAMY COFFEE LIQUEUR — RICH & LUXURIOUS
IMPORTED BY MEDEK WINES AND SPIRITS, NY
The following restaurant guide serves as a collaborative space and contains advertorial material. All kosher certifications listed are as of press time. All meat restaurants listed are Glatt Kosher and all dairy restaurants listed are Cholov Yisroel; consult with a local kosher authority to determine if the kosher status is of your standards. Fleishigs Magazine takes no responsibility for the changing of kosher certification; always check an establishment's active kosher status before dining.
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